First
by mellie4president
Summary: Mellie Grant wants to be the first female president of the United States, but she needs the help of someone she hasn't seen in fourteen years. (Not great at summaries. Comments and reviews are welcomed.) Mellivia fanfic.
1. I'm a Married Woman Now

Mellie Grant is sitting at a bar of a fancy hotel sipping on a beer. Yes a beer. She's in Vermont and she knows it's not very lady like or what the future first female president of the United States should be doing, but she honestly doesn't care.

She keeps playing with her wedding ring. If anyone was really paying her any attention, they could tell that she's nervous. She's waiting for someone she hasn't seen in a very long time and she needs something that feels normal. Something that feels familiar. So she's drinking a beer.

She had just come from a political debate just a few hours ago. She's wearing a dark red dress that stopped right above her knees. She can barely breathe in it and she doesn't care for the color but her stylist said it looked good on her and who was she to argue. When Mellie swings around on her bar stool, she sees her. Olivia Pope. She looks stunning and completely professional in an all black power suit and matching high heels. Her hair is shorter than she remembers last seeing it. Shoulder length. About the same length it was when she first met Olivia back in college.

Mellie eases down from her seat when Olivia approaches.

"Hi."

"Hi, Liv."

Olivia smiles softly at the nickname coming from Mellie's lips and she chuckles when Mellie points out that she cut her hair. "It's been fourteen years, Mellie. You didn't think I'd still have my hair the same way did you?"

" I suppose not." She answers and looks Liv over again. She notices her stiffen under her gaze. "You look amazing. Shorter hair always did look good on you."

There's a pause.

Then Olivia clears her throat. "Shall we sit?"

"Of course."

They both sit at the bar and Olivia orders a class of red wine. Mellie smiles to herself before finishing her beer, because it's good to know that something's never change.

There's another pregnant pause and Liv breaks it once again.

"I watched your debate today."

"It was awful. I know."

"It was not." She reassures her and pauses to take a sip of her wine. "It was pretty good actually. I would have only done a few things differently."

"Only a few?" She teases.

"You were always good in debate class."

"But not as good as you."

"You can't be the best at everything, Mellie. Debate wasn't your finest but I remember you excelling in other areas."

She can tell that Liv regrets her choice of words as soon as they leave her mouth. But Mellie did excel in other areas and apparently Liv remembered just how well she did.

"I didn't mean…"

"I know what you meant, Liv." She watched as Liv played with her wine glass. This was not the Olivia Pope she had followed in the news for the past six years. That Olivia was perfect. She had no flaws to the eyes of the public. She knew exactly what people were going to say before they said it and she definitely didn't get nervous. The Olivia Pope sitting next to her, playing with her wine glass, was the woman she knew all those years ago. "Thank you for coming by the way. I know we haven't talked in a while and Cyrus didn't tell me that he was hiring you until after the fact."

"It's ok. I know how much you want to be president. I'm happy to help you in anyway." She takes another sip of her wine. "I assume you know that you have to tell me all of your dirty little secrets if you want me to help you win."

Olivia is teasing her. She knows, but she responds quickly anyway. Looking Olivia directly in her eyes as if she wouldn't believe her if she didn't. "I'll tell you anything you want to know."

Olivia doesn't hold her gaze for very long before she's playing with her glass of wine again. She takes another drink of it. This one is less of a sip and more of a gulp. "Maybe not here. You don't want everyone knowing all of you secrets."

"You're right. Let's head up stairs." Mellie says while hopping down from her bar stool a little too quickly. "We can talk in my suite."

"I don't think that's a good idea, Mellie."

"Oh come on. We'll talk. Catch up on the past fourteen years."

"I don't know."

"Please, Liv. I'll be good. I promise. I'm sure you've heard that I'm a married woman now."

Before Olivia can respond her phone vibrates and she's never been this happy to receive a text from Harrison. She could never say no to Mellie. Not with those blue eyes.

"I have to leave."

Mellie can't help but whine a childlike "no" in response. "Stay."

"I can't. My team needs me. I'll see you tomorrow, ok? We'll discuss our plans about the upcoming political events and debates."

"Okay."

Without saying another word Mellie watches Olivia walk away from her and suddenly it's all too familiar.


	2. All American

It was the very next morning and Olivia was meeting Cyrus and Mellie in a conference room at the hotel Mellie were staying in. Olivia brought her team with her. Huck, Harrison, and Abby. Her gladiators. Harrison had come up with the name six years ago when they had all come together. Huck said it was the dumbest thing he had ever heard.

Olivia had saved Abby first. They had met her senior year of college and ended up going to law school together. Abby had ended up in a bad marriage and Olivia had gotten her out of it. Olivia had saved Huck after that. He was her loyal monster. He'd do anything she asked of him. No questions asked. Harrison was the last person she saved. She had met him in prison while working on a scandal involving some corrupt politicians. She thought he was too smart and far too good-looking to spend eight years of his life behind bars, so she rescued him too. They would all go over a cliff for Olivia and although she would never admit it out loud that thought alone terrified her.

As soon as Olivia and her team entered the room an old friend greeted her with open arms.

"Olivia. I'm glad you could make it. Mellie told me that you two had drinks last night. I didn't know that you two were old friends."

"We went to college together. We actually only knew each other for a semester."

"Well, it's a small world isn't it?"

"It sure is." She says before she turns around to face her team and tells them to set up their equipment.

"Liv!" Mellie said as she entered the room with a tall man behind her. "I'm glad you're here. I'm sure you remember my husband from back in college."

"You married the All American."

He smiled widely at the nickname that the woman had given him so many years ago. "She did." He said as he came forward and hugged her. "Mellie was right. You do look amazing."

"Thank you. You look great as well. You two always did look good together." She says as she remembers the first time she met the couple.

_Olivia is at a house party a couple of blocks from the university she's attending when she meets Mellie and her then boyfriend for the first time. _

_She's dancing with a guy she met while at the University's library. His name is Edison. He's tall, dark, and handsome. Someone her mother would approve of._

"_We should get out of here. Go somewhere more quite." He says as he wraps is arms tighter around Olivia's waist._

"_Why?" She asks with a risen eyebrow and a little attitude._

"_Because we've been going out for weeks and we haven't gotten past first base, Olivia. I've been a very patient man."_

"_And now you think you deserve a treat?"_

" _You know exactly what I think I deserve." He responds while leaning down to give her a kiss._

"_Ugh, stop." She declares as she turns her face away from him. She tries to push him away but he's much stronger than her. "Seriously, Edison stop." _

"_Is he bothering you?"_

_Olivia looks up to see a handsome man with brown hair that's perfectly combed back. He looks kind of like superman. Like an all American boy who could get by on just his good looks alone._

"_No." Olivia answers, finally being able to escape Edison's grip. "He was just leaving."_

_Edison looks the All American over again before scoffing and walking away._

"_Thank you."_

"_Don't thank me. Thank her." He says pointing to a woman standing in the house's kitchen doorway. She has long wavy brown hair and beautiful blue eyes. She's nursing a beer and staring directly at Olivia._

_Olivia made her way over to the woman who looked oddly familiar. The woman didn't take her eyes off of Olivia her entire stroll over. "So, is the All American one of your goons or something?"_

"_All American." She laughs at the name. "He'll like that. And no. He's not one of my goons. His name is Fitz. He's my boyfriend."_

"_Well thank you for sending him over."_

"_No problem. I would have come over myself but I'm not nearly as subtle or nice as Fitz is."_

_Olivia looks into the woman's blue eyes again and it only takes a second for her to figure out where she's seen them before._

"_Your name's Mellie, right?" She asks. "You're in my debate class._

"_Ugh, that class." She groans while pushing her hair out of her face._

_Her voice gets a couple of octaves lower and Olivia thinks it's the sexist thing she's ever heard._

"_Not doing too well in the class?"_

"_Not as well as I had hoped."_

"_I can help you. If you want."_

"_And what's in it for you?"_

"_A friendship. Hopefully. My mother says I need to get out more and meet new people."_

"_Well you've got yourself a deal, Olivia." She says before finishing her beer and placing it on the kitchen counter. "I'm going to grab another beer. Do you want one?" _

"_Oh, no. I don't drink beer."_

"_No? Then what does Olivia Pope drink?"_

"_Wine. Red wine to be specific."_

_She half expected Mellie to laugh and ask why I girl who liked red wine was at a party like this but instead she smiled. Mellie had smiled at her like that was the best thing that she had heard all night._

"_Red wine." She said as she thought out loud. "That might be hard to find in this dump, but I do love a good challenge." She said before she started raiding the entire kitchen._

_And to Liv's surprise, Mellie ends up finding that bottle of wine. _

_They decide not to stay at the party any longer and end up at Liv's apartment. _

"_This is a really nice place." Mellie says as she enters Olivia's place and looks around. "You stay here by yourself?"_

"_Yes. My mother didn't want me to stay on campus. She thinks that the dorm life is too much of a distraction from schoolwork."_

"_Do you always do what your mother tells you, Olivia?" _

_She looks at Mellie and stops and thinks about every decision she's ever made in her life because of her mother. She didn't date in high school because her mother had told her that boys in high school only wanted one thing. She wore her hair shoulder length because her mother said it looked more professional and she went to Harvard instead of Stanford because her mother said it would look better on resumes. Her mother had threw her acceptance letter in the trash even though she knew how much Olivia liked California and adored the beach._

"_Yes." She responds looking at Mellie who was now looking through Olivia's refrigerator._

"_You have absolutely no food in this place." She says as she closes the fridge door with a disappointed look on her face. She makes her way over to the pantry and chuckles at what's in it. " I stand corrected. You have a large supply of red wine and popcorn."_

"_That's kind of all I know how to make. You should know that if we're going to be friends."_

"_Well lucky for you I like popcorn." She says as she puts a bag in the microwave. "And I can buy my own beer."_

"_What's with you and beer?"_

"_I didn't really drink it before I met Fitz. He has me hooked on it." _

_And suddenly Olivia realizes that she took Mellie away from the party._

" _You know you didn't have to walk me home, right? I could have made it here fine on my own. I didn't mean to take you away from your boyfriend." _

"_I'm sure you could have but I wanted to come home with you, Olivia. And don't worry about Fitz. I'm sure he went home with someone too."_

"_And that doesn't bother you?" She asks with a hint of confusion. Mellie didn't seem like the type of woman that would let a man cheat on her and get away with it._

_Mellie looks her over for a minute. Like she was trying to see if Olivia was worthy of the truth. "Can I tell you something? You have to promise not to tell anyone else though."_

"_Okay. I promise."_

"_Fitz and I aren't really dating. He's my beard."_

"_Beard?"_

"_Yeah. He's only dating me because I don't want people to know that I'm gay."_

_The confession hadn't surprised Olivia. Mellie had been checking her out all night. The brunette was right when she said she wasn't subtle. "And why don't you want be to know that?"_

"_Because I can't be the first female president of the United States if people know that I don't like cock."_

_That surprises Olivia. "You want to be the president of the United States?"_

"_More than anything."_

"Liv, we've got something." Huck says snapping Olivia back into the present.

"What is it?"

"I just got an email from a woman who claims she had an affair with Fitz back in college. Says her name's Amanda Tanner."

"Is that true?" Olivia asks Fitz even though she already knows the answer.

"We slept together a few times." He responds while avoiding eye contact with his wife.

"Ok, well we can squash this easily. Men cheat all of the time. No one expects a man to keep it in his pants. It's sexist but it'll work."

"Well there might be a problem with that."

"Is there a kid?"

"No." He says and then looks over at Mellie.

"What is it, Huck?" Olivia asks impatiently making her way over to Huck.

"She says she slept with Mellie too." All eyes in the room go to Mellie. Huck looks at her too and then back at Olivia before speaking again. "And there's a video."


	3. Blonde Whore with a Huge Sex Drive

Olivia's furious.

Her nostrils are flared and her eyes are hard. "Mellie can I talk to you outside?" She says as she walks towards the conference room's door.

Mellie doesn't answer. She just silently follows like a child whose about to be scalded by their mother.

Olivia closes the door behind Mellie and takes a few steps away from her. "Please tell me you did not sleep with that woman." She says in a hushed voice.

Mellie doesn't answer. She just stands there looking anywhere besides Olivia.

Olivia rolls her eyes. "Seriously, Mellie? Amanda Tanner? She's going to give this video to Sally Langston and that'll cost you the election. When did this even happen?"

Mellie finally made eye contact with Olivia as she thought back to that night. She had been drunk. It was a couple of days after Olivia had left her and she needed to feel something. Anything. She was numb.

Amanda Tanner had been trying to get in her pants since they first met their freshman year. She barely even remembered that night but she did remember the next morning. She had rushed out of Amanda's dorm rooming feeling like shit. She felt guilty. Like she had just betrayed Liv even though they were no longer together.

"It was the summer of '01. It was just a cheap fuck. I was completely out of it. I barely remember the night."

"So you decided to make a video of it?"

Mellie scoffs. Like she's genuinely offended. "Give me some credit, Liv. I might be a lot of things but I am not trashy. I would never make a sex tape. Especially not with Amanda Tanner."

"Well just because you didn't condone to being filmed doesn't mean there wasn't a camera somewhere in that room." Olivia looks Mellie over in disbelief. "I can't believe you had sex with that woman of all people. You knew she was screwing Fitz too and probably half of the university."

"Well she was there Liv and you weren't." She says in a voice that isn't angry at all. It sounds sad actually. Like it was only yesterday that she had woken up to Olivia gone and a note on her nightstand.

"Mellie, I…"

"Don't." She says while taking a few steps back from Olivia. Somehow they had ended up just inches apart during their conversation. "Just do your job ok. Fix this. I haven't spent the past twenty plus years of my life hiding who I really am so that I could be knocked out of the running for president by some blonde whore with a huge sex drive. So handle this. That's what I'm paying you for, right?"

Olivia's hurt by this. Mellie can tell because Liv let's her walls down for about a half of a second. She's surprised that Mellie could actually be so cold towards her, but she knows she deserves it. So she sucks it. "Right."

As soon as Olivia responds she turns around and heads back into the conference room. She knows that if she looks at Liv for another second she'll take back every word she just said.

Olivia follows Mellie back into the conference room and walks directly over to the sassy redhead. "Abby, I need you to play good cop for me."

Harrison actually snorts at Olivia's request. "Good luck with that."

"Harrison, go with her. Find out if there's actually a video with Mellie in it and if there is offer her so much money that her head spins. Huck, get them an address."

"On it." He says as he starts to type away on his laptop. "119 Darhill Dr."

"Keys?" Abby asks before Liv tosses the keys in her direction.

Harrison intercepts them and puts them in his pocket. "You're not driving." He says as he runs out the door.

"Harrison!" yells Abby as she chases after him.

Olivia turns to Mellie and Fitz who are both sitting at a table discussing potential topics for the next debate. If you didn't know the truth about them you'd think they were a completely normal and happy couple. They may not be a normal couple but they were happy with their arrangement that they had made so long ago.

"_So why is Fitz dating you again? I mean, what's in it for him?" Olivia asks as she hurriedly cleans her bedroom._

"_He thinks that his worthless father will finally be proud of him if he's anywhere near the white house. If he really had the balls he'd tell his dad to fuck off." Mellie responds while sitting on top of Olivia's bed._

"_Everyone doesn't have the courage to stand up to their parents Mellie."_

"_I can see that. You're running around here like crazy because your mom's coming."_

"_You don't clean when your mom comes to visit you?"_

"_She insists that I don't. She likes to do it. Makes her feel like I'm still her little girl."_

"_Really?"_

"_Yeah and she says I can't clean worth shit."_

_Olivia laughs at that. "Well my mom will notice if anything is out of place and you can help by getting off my bed that I just made."_

_Mellie hops up from the bed quickly and walks over to Olivia. "Maybe you should calm down Liv." She says as she puts her hands on Olivia's shoulders. "Take a deep breath."_

_Olivia does what she's told and takes a deep breath before exhaling slowly._

"_Better?"_

"_No." And just like that she's back to cleaning._

"_Maybe you should take a break."_

"_Mellie, I…" She stops in midsentence when she sees that Mellie has taken off her Harvard University t-shirt._

"_What are you doing?"_

"_I'm going to help you relax. It'll be good for you." She responds as she makes her way over to Olivia and kisses her._

_This isn't the first time they've kissed. They've been doing this ever since Mellie had walked Olivia home that night and that was weeks ago._

_Olivia falls back onto the bed with Mellie on top of her. _

_The kiss is desperate and Olivia moans as Mellie tongue enters her mouth and grinds her thigh into Olivia's core._

_Mellie breaks the kiss and starts to kiss Liv's neck before she makes her way down to the buttons of Liv's jeans and starts to undo them._

_Olivia sits up and stops Mellie just like she does every night. "We should stop, Mellie."_

_Mellie sighs as she moves from on top of Olivia to sitting right next to her. "You know I don't care that you've never been with a woman before, right?"_

" _It's not that."_

"_Is it me?"_

"_No. It's just that…" Olivia sighs and then continues. "I've never been with anyone before._

"_Oh." Mellie says before she gets up from the bed to grab her t-shirt to put back on. And for a second Liv thinks that Mellie is about to leave her but she then makes her way back over to Olivia and kneels down in front of her. "You could have told me that you know?" _

"_Telling someone that you're a twenty-one year old virgin is not your ideal conversation."_

"_Well, we don't have to go any further than kissing if you don't want to. I'm completely content with just making out with you, Olivia Pope."_

"_Why? You could be doing a lot more with anyone else."_

"_I don't trust anyone else with my secret besides you and Fitz. And if I just wanted to hook up with someone I'd call Amanda Tanner. She's been trying to ride my dick since I got to this school."_

"_You have a horrible mouth."_

"_I don't know about that. The few women I've been with say it's pretty good."_

It had taken Harrison and Abby about six hours to get a copy of the video and bring it back to the hotel. It took a while to convince Amanda to had over a copy of the video for free.

Abby had refused to hand over a dime before they got a chance to look at it.

Mellie was now in her hotel room examining the video while Olivia waited on the other side of the closed door. If it were any other client, Olivia would be in the room watching the video too but she couldn't stomach it. What if Mellie is the other woman in that video? She'd have to deal with Amanda Tanner then. Huck had offered to "take care of her". That was always an option.

"You can come in." She's standing in the doorway of her suite when Olivia looks up at her. Mellie's changed clothes since this evening. She's wearing sweatpants and an oversized Harvard basketball t-shirt. Undoubtedly Fitz's. Her face is clear of makeup and her hair is up in a messy bun. Olivia thinks she hasn't aged a day.

"It's not me in the video." She says as she turns around to re-enter the room.

"Are you sure?" She says while following her into the room.

"Mhmm. You can't see the other woman's face but you see that right there on her lower back?" She asks has she points to the paused video on the TV.

"Is that a…"

"Tramp stamp."

It was. And like Mellie had said earlier, she was a lot of things but she was not trashy.

"What a relief. I thought I was going to have to get Huck to handle her."

"What does that mean?"

"It's better if you don't know."

There's a moment of silence before Mellie offers to fix Liv a drink.

"I shouldn't. I still have work to do when I get back to my room. I still have to call your parents and Harmony of course."

"Ugh, why? I swear every time I'm around them I turn back into a fourteen year old girl."

"You need them here Mellie. Family is very important in elections. You know that. Sally has kids. The people are going to eat that up."

"Fine, but put mama and daddy on opposite floors of each other please."

"Ok."

"And put Harmony in another hotel. A motel might actually be more suitable for her."

"Mellie..."

"I'm kidding." She says before sitting down on her bed. "I can't wait for them all to get here." Her voice is sarcastic with a hint of sadness.

"Everything's going to be fine Mellie. I can handle your family."

"I'm sure you can. My daddy loves you and he's only met you twice."

Olivia knew what Mellie was thinking. She knew all about Mellie's relationship with her father. How he had left her and her mom when she was young and how she was always trying to make him proud. Her and Fitz were alike in that way. "Everything's going to be ok. I promise. Get some sleep."

"Goodnight, Liv."

"Goodnight, Mellie."


	4. Jake Ballard

Olivia is talking to Mellie and her father in the middle of a ballroom. They're at a dinner to help raise money and awareness for Mellie's campaign. She has a wine glass in one hand and her phone in the other. She's waiting on a very important phone call from Abby about the current polls against Sally Langston.

Mellie's dad has just made the third comment about Mellie not having any children when she looks up from her phone and she can tell it's starting to get to her.

"Daddy, I've told you that Fitz and I have decided not to have any kids. Not every woman has to have kids. It's not a requirement."

"I know that but I want grandbabies."

"Harmony has five children daddy. That should be enough."

"Did I hear someone say my name?" Mellie's sister asks as she joins the three of them. She's wearing purple gown that's a little too short and low cut for Olivia's taste. Mellie tried to get her to change but the woman was stubborn. Just like Mellie.

"Daddy was just saying how he wants more grandchildren when he already has five."

"Will you leave Mellie alone, daddy? Not every woman has to have a child." Mellie physically relaxes when Harmony comes to her defense. "Do you have any children Olivia?"

"I do not."

"But you do want some someday don't you?" Mellie's father asks immediately after.

"Um, yes. Someday."

Mellie looks over at her surprised. She and Liv never talked about children. "I didn't know you wanted children."

Olivia shrugs like it's no big deal.

"I thought you two knew everything about each other." Harmony says looking back and forth between the two women. "You two were friends for what 5 months? You'd think it was longer. You two were practically joined at the hip. What happened between you two anyway? I haven't heard Mellie say your name and fourteen years and here you are."

"Nothing happened." Olivia answers while looking over at Mellie sympathetically. "I just realized that Stanford was a better school for me so I left."

"I'm going to grab something to drink. Excuse me." Mellie makes her way over to the bar where Fitz is standing. She grabs the scotch out of his hand and finishes it off.

"You ok?" He asks while motioning for another drink to the bartender.

"No. I just want this night to be over. It's bad enough that I have to look at her in that gown but I have to listen to her say that she wants children."

"Liv wants kids?" He seems just as surprised as she was a few seconds ago.

"Yeah. I would have had kids with her. If she would have given me the chance."

"You hate kids, Mellie."

"Yeah but there's no way I could hate something that was the product of that woman. Ugh, look at her. She's gorgeous." She says while looking at Olivia who was now standing alone.

"You're not the only one who thinks she's gorgeous." Fitz responds while noticing Jake Ballard approach her.

"When did he get here?"

"Maybe an hour ago. Ignore him though. You have bigger things to worry about besides Jake. Are you ready for your speech?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

The rest of the night goes by smoothly. Mellie gives her speech and there's a vast applause at the end. Her dad doesn't make any more comments about her lack of children and Harmony manages to keep her life stories to a minimum.

While getting ready to head up stairs, Mellie sees Olivia exit the building with Jake. It makes her feel sick to her stomach because after all these years she's still in love with Olivia Pope. She's on the verge of crying when her mom walks up behind her.

"Will you walk me up to my room, sweetie?"

"Of course." She answers will grabbing her mother's hand.

Mellie's mother walks directly to the suite's couch and takes a seat when they make it to the room. "Your speech was wonderful, honey." When her mother looks up she notices the tears running down Mellie's cheeks. She motions for Mellie to come sit down next to her and she does without a moment's hesitation. Mellie takes off her heels and ends up lying down on the couch with her head on her mothers lap. She hasn't done this since she was in middle school and she had come home brokenhearted over some girl she can't even remember the name of.

Her mother runs her fingers through her hair and it makes her miss home. "Does this have something to do with Olivia? Are you two dating again?"

This surprises Mellie. She never told her mom about Olivia or any of the other girls she had been with. She always thought her mother would be disappointed in her.

"I don't care if you care. I like Olivia and don't tell me you two weren't dating in college. When I came to visit you your junior year, you two had only known each other for four weeks and you were already in love with that girl. I could never figure out why she just up and left though. You never did tell me the truth."

Mellie sits up and wipes the tears from her eyes. She thinks about how easier her life could have been if she would have told her mom that she was gay. Or if she could have been able to talk to her after Olivia had left her devastated all those years ago. "I asked her to marry me. That's why she left."


	5. It's Not a Date

Mellie Grant is standing in her suite in front of her mirror buttoning her white button-down shirt when Fitz walks in. He's wearing a grey t-shirt with the word "Navy" across it and dark blue basketball shorts.

"You look nice." He says as he sits down on the corner of the bed behind her. "Is this for your date with Olivia?"

"It's not a date." She says as she puts on the blazer to complete her suit. "I cant' believe my stylist has me in a suit. It's like she wants everyone to know I'm a lesbian."

He laughs at this. "I'm sure Liv will like it."

"I don't care if she likes it or not. I'm over her."

"Mhmm."

"I'm serious." She says while turning around to look at him and she wonders why she even bothers lying because he knows her better than anyone.

"That's not what your mom told me when I ran into her in the hall this morning."

"Ugh, she told you that I went crying to her like a little bitch didn't she?"

"She didn't use those exact words but yes."

"Well that was a mistake and it won't happen again."

"Ok. I guess that's a good thing actually, because I'm pretty sure I saw Liv leave with Jake last night."

"Ugh, Jake." Fitz and Jake had been friends since they were five years old. They had gone to the same schools all through college and even joined the Navy together. Mellie had met Jake their freshman year and she had liked him up until junior year when he met Olivia and developed a crush on her. "Why'd you have to invite him?"

"You said I could invite a friend."

"Yeah, but I didn't think you'd invite him. I thought he was in California or something."

"He was but he was free so when he heard I was in Vermont he flew out to come visit."

"Well you could have invited someone a little less annoying. He was all over Liv last night."

"She didn't seem to mind." He says with a sly grin and Mellie shoots him a glare so deadly that he almost falls off the bed.

"Why are you here? I thought you and Jake were going to play basketball with the rest of the guys."

"We are but I thought I'd come and see how you were doing before your date."

"It's not a date." This time she says it slightly annoyed. "We're just having lunch to discuss everything before the debate against Sally tonight. Please show up on time."

"When have I ever let you down, Mellie?" He asks while rising from the bed and then kissing her on the cheek. "I'm going to head downstairs. You really do look nice." He adds before walking out of the room.

She did look nice and this definitely wasn't a date.

_Mellie rushes into Fitz's parents home wearing a navy blue knee high dress with nude pumps. She's running late because of her political science class project. When she walks in the front door she immediately spots Fitz talking to his mother in the living room. She hangs her coat and runs her hands over her dress before walking over to them. "Sorry I'm late." She says before kissing Fitz on the cheek. "My partner for this project is a complete idiot. Mrs. Grant, you look amazing as usual."_

"_Thanks, sweetie." Mrs. Grant responds while handing Mellie a glass of wine. "You made it just in time. Dinner is about to be served. Tell Mellie the good news sweetie while I go set the dinning room table." She squeezes his arm before heading to the kitchen._

"_What good news?"_

"_My dad's running for senator again." He says with fake enthusiasm._

"_Ugh, that man's still alive."_

_Fitz laughs at this. Mellie actually hates his father more than he does. "Yeah. He's still alive."_

"_Sorry I'm late again. Happy birthday."_

"_Thanks." He says while fixing Mellie's hair. "Did you sprint here?"_

"_Shut up. I was trying to beat your dad here."_

"_You could have showed up an hour later and still beat him. He doesn't care to celebrate something as trivial as his only child's birthday."_

"_Well he's the equivalent of a dick with a mouth so you shouldn't care if he shows up or not."_

"_You've been working on your insults. That one was pretty good."_

"_Thank you." She says while doing an over dramatic curtsy. "Is Liv here?"_

"_Yeah. Last time I saw her she was in my dad's study with Jake."_

"_You left her with Jake? You know he has a huge boner for her. Why aren't you in there with them?"_

"_I didn't want it to seem like I was cock blocking him."_

_She rolls her eyes and lets out a huff before walking quickly to the house's study._

_When she enters the room she's greeted with a wide smile from Olivia. She's wearing a form fitting black dress with red fuck me pumps. Her hair is half up half down and she's wearing the necklace Mellie gave her a couple of days ago._

"_You made it. Is that for me?" She says while pointing to the wine glass in Mellie's hand._

"_Of course." She hands the glass over to Liv and then looks Jake over. He's good-looking. She's not too proud to admit that. He's not as handsome as Fitz but if he walked into a room you'd definitely stop to look at him. "Jake."_

"_Hi, Mellie. Olivia and I were just talking about you."_

"_Oh really?"_

"_Mhmm. I was just telling him how brilliant you are and how you got an internship at the White House this summer."_

"_Olivia speaks very highly of you Mellie." He says while looking between the two women. "You're very lucky to have a friend like her."_

"_I know." She says and Olivia's looking at her with those beautiful brown eyes. It takes everything Mellie has not to grab Olivia and kiss her._

"_Dinner's ready." Fitz's is standing in the doorway with his hands in his pockets. She didn't notice it before but Mellie thinks he looks older than when she saw him last night. Spending time with his family always did that to him. _

_Mellie walks over and grabs his hand. "Cheer up Fitz. It's your birthday."_

_They all walk to the dinning room and Fitz and Mellie sit side by side and so do Jake and Olivia. Mrs. Grant sits at the head of the table and there's an empty seat at the other end._

"_So, how long have you and Jake been dating Olivia?" Mrs. Grant breaks the silence and Olivia almost jokes on her wine. "Jake is like a second son to me and I can't have you breaking his heart."_

"_We're not dating actually." Olivia says while looking at Mrs. Grant._

"_Well why not? Look how handsome he is and you're absolutely gorgeous. You two would make the cutest babies." _

_Fitz and Mellie both laugh at this and Jake is completely red in the face._

"_Not as cute as Fitz's and Mellie's of course." Mrs. Grant says immediately after and Mellie stops laughing completely. _

_Before Mellie can say anything Fitz's dad walks in and takes his seat. "Sorry I'm late. I didn't know we were having a special guest." He says while looking over at Olivia._

"_This is Olivia Pope, dad. She's a close friend of mine and Mellie's."_

"_Well it's nice to meet you. I hope you like politics. It's mostly all we talk about at the dinner table. Fitz is going to be senator just like me one day and Mellie wants to be first lady."_

"_President." Mellie says through gritted teeth. He always did this. He knew how much she wanted to be president and he made it his goal to belittle her dream. "I don't want to be first lady. I want to be the President of the United States."_

"_Honey, I don't know what world you think you live in because the Republican Party is not going to vote for a female president.''_

"_I'm a democrat actually." _

_That pisses him off and she can't help but smirk at how red his face gets from anger._

_The rest of the dinner is pretty uncomfortable. Fitz's father talks nonstop about his next campaign for senator and Mellie has to stop herself from rolling her eyes every five seconds. Jake won't stop flirting with Olivia and Fitz looks like he's about to explode from the insults Big Jerry keeps throwing at him. _

_When the dinner is over Fitz gives everyone a quick "goodbye" and gets in his car to head back to his dorm. Mellie makes a mental note to go check on him later._

"_Do you live far from here, Olivia? I could take you home?" Jake asks while putting his coat on._

"_Thanks for the offer but Mellie's going to walk with me."_

_They walk in silence for a couple of blocks until Olivia finally says something._

"_If I would have known you were going to be this quite I would have let Jake walk me home."_

"_That's not funny. You know he has a thing for you, right?"_

"_I know. I think it's kind of cute."_

"_It's not."_

"_Does it bother you that he has a thing for me? It shouldn't. I'm your girlfriend. You're the one who's fucking me. That's why I wanted you to walk me home. So you can fuck me."_

_Since meeting Mellie, Olivia had added some new words to her vocabulary and Mellie would be lying if she said it wasn't a huge turn on. _

"_Or I could call Jake if you're not up for it."_

_Olivia regrets saying that later._

By the time Olivia arrives at the restaurant Mellie had been sitting there for 20 minutes.

"I'm so sorry Mellie. I completely lost track of time. Have you ordered?" She asks while sitting down across from her in an all white dress.

"It's ok. And no I haven't. I waited for you. Did you get lost?"

"No I um…I couldn't decide what I wanted to wear. Which is silly because this isn't a date."

"It can be one if you want it to be." Mellie regrets the words as soon as she says them.

"I don't think that's a good idea. I remember our dates always ending in one way."

"I don't remember any complaints." She says with a smirk.

Olivia actually smiles at this before clearing her throat and picking up a menu. "We should change the subject."

"Ok."

"Let's discuss the topics for the debate tonight."


	6. She Thinks about You

Olivia and Fitz stand in the back of the auditorium during Mellie and Sally's debate per request of Mellie. She didn't want any distractions and they did as they were told because they could tell that she was nervous enough all ready.

The debate is going well so far. They're both on stage behind their podiums and Sally's wearing her signature color. Red. Olivia didn't notice Mellie's attire until they got up to leave the restaurant and though Olivia thought the suit looked amazing on Mellie, she thought it'd look better on the floor of her hotel room.

"She thinks about you." Says Fitz while keeping his eyes on the stage.

"What?" Olivia responds while looking over at him.

"Mellie. She thinks about you. A lot actually. She hasn't done that since college. Back then she used to talk about you all of the time and when she wasn't talking about you she'd think about you. She'd have this look in her eyes and I just knew she was thinking about you. She'd lie when I would call her out on it but I always knew."

Olivia just stands there quietly. She doesn't know how to respond. She wonders why he's telling her this.

"When you left she stopped talking about you. It took a couple of months for her to actually stop thinking about you. She got rid of everything that reminded her of you." He pauses. "Well almost everything." He pauses again and then finally makes eye contact with Olivia. "It wasn't until six years ago that she started thinking about you again. She started watching you on TV and following you on the news. She even read articles that had your name in them. She never talked about you though. Never. I hadn't heard her say your name in fourteen years and now she's saying it in her sleep. Every night since you walked back into her life she's dreamt about you. I'll look over at her and she'll have this smile on her face. Then she'll wake up and she'll realize that it was just a dream and she's not smiling anymore."

"Why are you telling me this, Fitz?"

"Because I don't want you to lead her on. She's still in love with you. She'll do anything for you."

"You don't think I know that? That's why I left all those years ago. Because she wanted to marry me. She was willing to give up everything she had worked for so that she could be with me and I wasn't going to let that happen. Mellie is _**brilliant**_. She's the smartest woman I've ever met but what she was going to do fourteen years ago was idiotic. I would have said yes to her proposal if I didn't think that she was going to wake up one day and regret marrying me over becoming the first female president of the United States. I didn't come back to lead her on. I'm here to do my job. I'm here to put her in the White House." She breaks eye contact with Fitz and looks back at the stage. "I'm still in love with her too."

In that moment Liv's head starts spinning and she was on the floor before she knows what's happening.

"Liv!" Fitz yells as he kneels down next to her. "Liv, can you hear me?"

When she doesn't answer, he picks her up and carries her out of the auditorium doors.

It's about thirty minutes after the incident when Mellie and Sally finally get a break from the debate.

When Mellie walks backstage she spots Cyrus. "Hey, how am I doing out there?"

"Excellent. You have a comeback for everything that comes out of that devils mouth. Sally should throw in the towel right now."

Mellie smiles. "Well you can thank Liv for that. She's a genius when it comes to debates." She looks around for Liv and her husband. "Where is she by the way? Fitz too. I thought they'd be back here."

Cyrus takes a deep breathe before he answers her question. "I don't want you to panic, but Liv fainted and was taken to the hospital. Fitz is with her.

Mellie moves to leave the room but Cyrus anticipates this and takes a step to the right to block her. "Where do you think you're going? You have a debate to finish."

"Cyrus, you obviously do not know me very well if you think that I'm going back on that stage. Liv is in the hospital. I should be there."

"I know that she's your friend and you care about her, but there's nothing you can do right now. Let the doctors check on her. Besides, I know you don't want to be anywhere near Olivia Pope if she finds out that you threw a presidential debate because she fainted."

Mellie just stands there looking at him for what feels like a full sixty seconds. She knows he's right. Olivia would be furious and she definitely didn't want that. "Fine. I'm going to go freshen up but you better update me if you hear anything."

"Absolutely."

By the time the debate is over Liv has been moved to her hotel room.

When Olivia wakes up she notices two things. She's incredibly thirsty and Mellie is sitting in the corner of the room.

"You're awake." Mellie says as she rises from her seat and walks over to the room's mini fridge. She gets out a bottle of water and hands it to Olivia. "Doctor says you fainted from exhaustion. He said that haven't been sleeping enough."

"I don't have time to sleep. I have a campaign to run." Liv responds before taking a sip of her water. "Besides Cyrus sleeps fewer hours than I do."

"Cyrus is a robot. He doesn't need sleep. You do."

"Lesson learned."

Mellie walks back over to the chair and lays her blazer over it. Olivia takes this as an opportunity to check Mellie out. "You don't have to stay here. My team can take care of me."

"I know they can. Huck is standing on the other side of your room door like some kind of watchdog, Harrison put you into bed and Abby changed your clothes."

Olivia looks under the covers and finally notices her change of attire. She's wearing a red Stanford t-shirt and matching shorts.

"They care about you." Mellie says as she sits down on the bed next to Liv. "Almost as much as I do."

There's a long silence until Liv breaks it by making a confession.

"I slept with Jake last night."

"I could have went my whole life without knowing that."

"I'm sorry. It would have come up eventually and I just think that it's better that you hear it from me now. It was awful by the way."

"Really? He's had a thing for you since college. I thought he'd be excited. Very giving."

"His problem was that he was a little too excited. Didn't last very long." She takes another sip of her water. "I just wanted someone to take me to bed. Someone should. I mean look at me." Olivia says as she gestures toward herself. Half of her makeup is on her pillowcase and her hair is everywhere. "Ok, maybe don't look at me now. I'm sure I look disgusting." She says as she tries to fix her hair.

"You look beautiful."

Olivia immediately stops messing with her hair because it's Mellie. She's seen her look worse than this. "I wanted it to be you. I wanted you to come back here with me last night. I still do. But I'm running your campaign. It would be inappropriate."

"Well let's be inappropriate." Mellie says as she leans in closer to Olivia and to her surprise Olivia closes the gap.

Liv is kissing her for the first time in fourteen years. It's not exactly the same but it's familiar. It's perfect.

Olivia deepens the kiss and starts to unbutton Mellie's shirt. "You look amazing in this suit." She slides the shirt off with ease and then she moves to flip Mellie on her back.

"Are you trying to top me?"

"I'm usually on top."

"You fainted today. You should probably just lay back." Mellie says as she pushes Olivia on her back. She spreads Liv's legs and settles between them. "Let's see if I remember what makes you scream."

As Mellie kisses her way down her body, Liv prays that Huck isn't still standing outside that door.


	7. The Proposal

Olivia wakes up to a headache and an empty bed. Her Stanford t-shirt and shorts are on the floor along with her black-laced bra and matching underwear. Her head is pounding but she definitely remembers Mellie being there last night and now she's gone. Olivia thinks that maybe she deserves waking up alone and she wonders if this was Mellie's plan all along. She wonders if this was some kind of revenge for Olivia leaving her all those years ago. She grabs the pillow next to her and screams into it.

"Are you ok?"

When Olivia looks over, Mellie's standing in the doorway with two cups of coffee and breakfast. She's wearing the suit that she had on last night but her hair is pulled up into a messy bun instead of flowing down her shoulders.

"I'm fine. I just….I'm fine." Olivia says while sitting up and using the sheets to cover herself.

Mellie walks over to Olivia's side of the bed and sits the coffee and breakfast down on the nightstand next to her. "I figured you'd wake up with a headache so I went out and got you some food. You haven't eaten anything in hours."

"Thanks." Olivia says while grabbing a coffee. "You didn't have to do that."

"I don't mind." Mellie picks up Olivia's shirt off the floor and hands it to her. "Are you sure you're ok?"

Olivia puts her shirt on before answering. "Yeah. Last night is just kind of a blur. I remember waking up and then I remember kissing you. Then I wake up completely naked. All of my clothes on the floor but we couldn't have had sex because I would remember that. No matter how out of it I might be, I would remember every detail if you and I had sex last night."

"You're right. We didn't have sex last night. We were going to. We were kind of in the middle of it and then you fell asleep."

"I didn't."

" You did. I was just as shocked as you are. I mean you were very responsive and then I look up and you're knocked out." Mellie replies with a laugh. "Normally my ego would be a little bruised but you did faint from exhaustion last night. Plus the doctor gave you some pills to help you sleep."

"Oh my god. I'm so sorry." Olivia says while covering her face from embarrassment.

"Don't be." Mellie says with a shrug. "It was probably for the best. We should talk about the elephant in the room before anything happens between us."

"The proposal."

"Yes."

"_I told you that you didn't have to do the dishes." Olivia says while walking over to Mellie in the kitchen._

"_Well I cooked so it's only right that I clean up the mess I made." Mellie replies while standing over the kitchen sink._

_This had become a routine for the past five months. Mellie would cook for Olivia or bring dinner over for the both of them. After three months of this, Olivia asked Mellie to move in with her and who was Mellie to say no._

"_You didn't have to cook either." Liv says while standing behind Mellie and wrapping her arms around her._

"_If I didn't cook for you, all you would eat is popcorn. That's not a meal. That's a snack." Mellie dries off the last dish and then turns around to face Olivia. "Besides, I like cooking for you. It's awfully domestic."_

"_Well I'm glad you like it because I actually don't mind you cooking for us or doing the dishes. I just feel like I'm obligated to protest."_

"_So you're just using me for my cooking and cleaning skills?"_

"_Mhmm. And sex." Olivia replies while unbuttoning Mellie's jeans. There's about a three-inch height difference so Olivia actually has to stand on her toes when she kisses Mellie. The kiss is slow and soft. Olivia moves to lift Mellie's shirt but Mellie grabs her wrist to stop her._

"_Wait."_

"_Did I do something wrong?"_

"_No. I, um, I got you something. Wait here." Mellie says before disappearing into Olivia's room. It takes her all of ten seconds to reappear from the room with a small box in her hand. "I've been carrying this thing around for a couple of days trying to find the best time to ask. Today was our last day of exams so I can't think of a better time." She doesn't get down on one knee because she knows Olivia won't like that. It's cliché. So she remains standing._

"_Mellie…" Olivia starts but stops when Mellie opens the box. There's a ring. A small ring. She can tell that Mellie's a little embarrassed by the size of it, but if she wasn't in such a state of shock Olivia would tell her that it's beautiful. _

"_I know that we've only been together for five months. We've only known each other for five months but I love you. I'm in love with you. I want to marry you, Olivia Pope. So, will you marry me?" Her voice is shaking from nervousness. So much that she barely gets the words out of her mouth._

"_You don't want to marry me."_

"_Of course I do."_

"_Same-sex marriage isn't even legal."_

"_It will be someday."_

"_You can't be president if we get married, Mellie."_

"_I don't have to be president." She says with a shrug. _

_Olivia just stares at her in complete disbelief. "You've wanted to be president since you were twelve years old and you're going to throw all your hard work away just so you can be with me?" Olivia spits the words out angrily and Mellie's composed state is not helping her calm down._

"_I want to hold your hand in public. I want to kiss you without looking to see if anyone is around. I want people to know that we're together. I want everyone to know. I want to be with you."_

"_You don't want to be the first female president of the United States because you want to hold my hand in public?"_

"_Yes."_

"_No."_

"_No?"_

"_I'm not going to marry you."_

_Mellie closes the box and rakess her finger through her hair. "So you don't want to be with me?"_

"_Of course I do!"_

"_Just not publicly." She's crying now. There are tears running down her cheeks and Olivia thinks this is the first time she's ever seen Mellie cry._

"_You'll resent me one day, Mellie. You'll see the first female president get elected and you'll think that it could have been you." _

"_No, I won't. I love you." She says the last three words so low that Olivia almost doesn't hear her._

"_I know. I love you too." Olivia says as she wipes the tears from Mellie's eyes. Olivia kisses her again but it's harder this time and it tastes like salt._

_Mellie actually picks Olivia up and carries her into the bedroom. Mellie fucks her like she has something to prove and Olivia looses count of the number of times Mellie makes her cum that night. _

_And even though they're both exhausted, Mellie doesn't go to sleep until she whispers 'I love you' to Olivia one more time. When she wakes up, Olivia is gone and there's a note on the nightstand with the ring on top of it._

"I shouldn't have left. Not like that." Olivia says to Mellie who is now sitting on the bed with her.

"So you don't regret leaving? You just regret leaving the way that you did."

Olivia sighs before responding. "You can make a difference, Mellie. You can change the world. Imagine what you can accomplish in eight years with your presidency. I wasn't going to let you throw that away."

"You think I made the decision to propose to you lightly? I didn't. I thought about it. I went over it in my head. Over and over again. I knew exactly what I was giving up if you would have said yes. It would have been worth it. Marrying you would have been worth it. It would be a hell of a lot less stress. You know what, I take that back. Being married to you would probably have the same stress level."

Olivia picks a pillow up from the bed and throws it at Mellie. "That's not funny."

Mellie smirks and before she can respond her phone vibrates. "I have to go. My stylist needs me. You should probably get out of bed too. We have work to do today." Mellie gets up from the bed and walks over to the door. "I'll see you later."

She exits the room to see Abby, Huck, and Harrison standing in the hall. "Don't you guys have things to do?"

"We're waiting on orders from Liv. You're up five points in the polls." Says Abby while leaning against the wall.

"Really?"

"Yeah. You might actually win this thing."


	8. People Can Be Stupid

After the debate everyone's time in Vermont had pasted and now they've made there way to Virginia. Mellie is lying in the bed of her room when Abby barges in.

"Where's Liv?"

"Good morning to you too." Mellie says while sitting up.

"Where's Liv?" Abby asks again with very little patience.

"She's in the shower."

Abby enters the bathroom and pulls back to shower curtain. This almost gives Olivia a heart attack. "Jesus, Abby! What are you doing here?"

"Sally's up three points in the poll."

"What?! How did that even happen?"

"Apparently Sally's daughter suffered a "miscarriage" last night."

Olivia rolls her eyes at this statement. "Yeah right. Can we prove that she's lying?" She asks while gesturing for a towel.

"Not really." Abby hands Liv a towel and continues. "Besides on the off chance that she is telling the truth we'd look like assholes if someone found us snooping around." Abby walks out of the bathroom to see a fully clothed Mellie. "There's a website up and everything. People are donating money to the family. They are actually praying for a miracle pregnancy to happen. Republicans don't believe in gun control or gay marriage but they believe in miracle babies."

"Has Huck found anything we can use against Sally yet?" Olivia asks while emerging from the bathroom wearing a white bra laced and matching underwear.

"No, but he's working on it. By the way, Hollis Doyle has called you five times in the past hour. It's really annoying. What does he want with you anyway?"

"I don't know, but I'll call him back later."

As soon as the words leave her lips Fitz runs into the room.

"Sally's up by three points."

"We know." Say the three women in unison.

"Huck's working on something right now. Abby, go help him please and get Harrison. I need all of you on this."

Abby tosses Liv's phone on the bed and then leaves.

"We can't lose this election. We've come too far." Fitz says while sitting on the bed.

"We're not going to lose, Fitz. Olivia is going to come up with a plan, right?"

Before she can answer her phone rings. Fitz picks the phone up and looks at the I.D. Who's 'The Devil'?"

"It's Hollis. I should probably take it." Liv grabs the phone and steps outside the room.

"How are you feeling? The election is in about a week." Fitz asks while getting up from the bed. He walks over to Mellie and puts his hands on her shoulders.

"I'm nervous, but that's normal right?"

"Absolutely. How are things with you and Liv? I'm assuming they're good because she's taken my spot in your bed."

"Things are great." Mellie responds with a huge smile. "I'm at such a good point in my life. Everything's perfect. I love you."

Fitz laughs at this confession. "I love you too, Mellie."

"And I love Olivia. Can you imagine the three of us in the White House together?"

"That would make a pretty decent show."

"It would!"

Olivia walks back into the room with a blank expression on her face.

"Everything ok, Liv?" Asks Fitz while moving over to Olivia.

"Yeah. Everything's ok." Answers Olivia before getting dressed.

Olivia finds her team downstairs in the hotel conference room. Harrison and Abby are both on their phones and Huck is typing away on his laptop. "Have you guys found anything?"

Harrison finishes his call and then answers Olivia. "I've got a guy on his way that says he has pictures of Sally's husband that we'd kill for."

"How reliable are these pictures?"

"He says he took them himself. He should be her any minute."

Olivia sees Cyrus standing in the corner of the room on his phone and walks over to him. "I need to talk to you."

"About what?"

"Hollis called me. He says he has a way to rig the election." Olivia whispers to Cyrus.

"I know."

"You know about this?"

"Hollis called and said that he had a way that would guarantee Mellie the election, so I listened."

"You didn't agree to it did you?"

"Of course I did and you should too."

"What you're agreeing to is illegal. It's unconstitutional. It's wrong. The American people's votes matter, Cyrus."

"Olivia, we both know that people can be stupid. I've dealt with my fair share of dumb Americans and I'm sure you have too. Sally is up three points right now. That bible-thumping redneck could actually be sworn into office come January. Do you want that?"

"No, but we can win this Cyrus."

"What if we don't?"

"He's here, Liv." Says Harrison before she can respond to Cyrus's question. "He's in the lobby."

When Olivia enters the lobby, Harrison immediately points the guy out. "That's him over there.

"Ok, stay here." Olivia makes here way over to the man. He's young. About 5'8 with a slender build. He has on a black hoodie, black pants, and matching black shades. She thinks that this has to be his first time doing anything like this. "I hear that you have some pictures for me."

"Who are you?" He responds a little bit startled. His voice is shaking as well. This is definitely his first time doing this.

"I'm the woman running Mrs. Grant's campaign. Now do you have pictures for me or not?"

"Yeah. Check these out." He says while handing a folder over to Olivia.

"Oh my god." Olivia continues flipping through the pictures and stops at a particular one. "Is that…?"

"Sally Langston's husband giving a man a blowjob? Yes it is."

Mellie had a full schedule so it isn't until they're both in bed that Olivia gets the chance to talk to her. Mellie is sitting next to her with her hair pinned up and her glasses on. She's doing the crossword puzzle in the newspaper. "What's the medical prefix meaning down or below normal?"

"What?"

"Number 15 across." Mellie says as she hands Olivia the paper.

Olivia squints at the small print before grabbing Mellie's glasses off of her face and putting them on.

"I don't know why you won't get your own glasses."

"Because I have perfect vision and the medical prefix meaning down or below normal is 'hypo'." Olivia hands Mellie her glasses and the paper back before speaking again. "So, Harrison found some dirt on the Langston family and I haven't told you about it because I know you won't use it."

"How do you know that? What is it?"

Olivia reaches over to her nightstand and hands Mellie the folder containing the pictures.

Mellie closes the folder as fast as she open is it. "Oh my god. You could have warned me and my gay eyes."

"Sorry."

"That's Sally's husband?"

"Yes." Olivia answers while taking the folder away from Mellie.

"I can't use that. It would definitely win me the election but I can't out him. Not when I'm in the same boat. I wouldn't be able to look at myself in the mirror."

"I know."

"Did you find anything that I can use?"

"No. Not yet."

"Well I have faith in you Olivia. You'll win this election." Mellie leans over and kisses Olivia on the cheek.

"What if I can't?"

As soon as Mellie opens her mouth to respond her phone rings. Olivia can barely make out the sound of a man's voice on the other end but she knows it's not good because Mellie's face turns completely white. "I'm on my way." Mellie gets up from the bed and starts to get dressed.

"Mellie, what's wrong?"

"It's Fitz. He's in the hospital. He's been shot."


	9. Do You Believe in God, Olivia?

_It's the beginning of freshman year and Mellie's walking back to her dorm from a double date that her friend Elizabeth set up. Her date was with a guy who was undoubtedly both handsome and charming. He was also persistent because he insisted on walking Mellie back to her dorm. The date was all kind of a blur. She spent most of it checking out the blonde waitress who served them for the night. When they reached the front steps of the resident hall Mellie finally turns to face him._

"_Well thanks for walking with me, Fred."_

"_Fitz. My name's Fitz."_

"_Sorry. Fitz. Wait, Fitz as in Fitzgerald Grant?"_

"_Yes." He says as he looks down with embarrassment. "You follow politics?"_

"_Absolutely. I thought you looked familiar. I hear your dad's thinking about running for president in the next two years."_

"_Those are just rumors. He doesn't have it in him to actually run for office."_

"_Good. You don't share your dad's political views do you?" _

"_I pretend to for his sake but no. He's a bit old-fashioned."_

_Mellie chuckles. "Well that's a nice way of saying 'sexist' and 'homophobic'."_

"_Yeah, he really makes me proud." He responds with sarcasm while raking his fingers through his hair. He takes a deep sigh and then continues. "So why are you so into politics?"_

"_I want to be president some day." This is the first time that Mellie has ever said this to a stranger. She wonders if she sounds ridiculous._

"_I don't know you very well but I think that's very ambitious of you. American doesn't know it yet but we could use a strong female president and I could help you. I could be your beard if you'd like. You were checking out our waitress all night, so I'm guessing that you're gay or bisexual. I know that's a thing too. Or maybe you don't like labels at all."_

_She thinks about lying to him. She thinks about telling him to leave so that she'll never have to see him again but his eyes are incredibly kind and he's right. She could use a beard. "I'm gay." That was definitely the first time Mellie had ever said those two words out loud and to her surprise Fitz seems unbothered by them._

"_Do you want to grab a beer? I know a place that doesn't card."_

_Mellie scrunches her face and replies. "I don't like beer."_

"_You'll like this kind. I promise."_

Olivia walks into the hospital room and finds Mellie on the other side of the room sitting in the chair next to Fitz's hospital bed. She's in the same spot that Olivia had left her three hours ago. She looks exhausted and she's lost some weight. It's been a week since the shooting and Fitz still hasn't woken up from his coma.

Olivia stands next to Fitz's bed and grabs his hand. "Any changes?"

Olivia looks over to see Mellie shake her head.

"Have you eaten anything since I left?"

Mellie shakes her head again and Olivia let's out a deep sigh. "You need to eat something Mellie or you're going to end up in a bed just like this?"

There's a long pause until Mellie breaks it. "Do you believe in God, Olivia?"

Mellie hadn't spoken all day so the question had startled her. She wanted to tell Mellie that she had lost her faith a long time ago but she knew that wasn't what Mellie needed to hear.

"You need to be strong, Mellie. You and Sally are tied right now. One of you will be the president of the United States tomorrow night."

"I don't care about the election anymore."

"Fitz would want you to put up a fight."

"You don't know that."

"I do." Olivia finally walks over to the other side of the room and kneels down in front of Mellie. "I remember you telling me that Fitz wasn't even a little surprised when you told him you wanted to be president some day. That's because he believes in you and he would want you to do the same thing right now. You have to fight for this."

Mellie finally takes her eyes away from Fitz and looks Olivia in her eyes. "What do I have to do?"

"Well the election is going to go one of two ways. You're going to lose the election because Fitz is in a coma. People are going to think that because you are a woman, you cannot run this country because you will be too emotion. It's sexist but that is a strong possibility."

"What's our other outcome?"

"You win the election because the American people feel sorry for you."

"This isn't how I wanted things to go Olivia. I don't want people to feel sorry for me. I don't want to win like that. I want people to vote for me because they believe that I'm the best candidate to run this country."

"Then you need to make a statement. And soon. The People need to know that you can still run this country regardless of Fitz's condition. They need to know that you will excel at it because no one is better at multitasking than a woman. You need to remind them that Fitz is in a coma and in critical condition. We need all of the sympathy votes we can get." Olivia reaches into her bag and pulls out a thin folder. "I've written this for you to read but feel free to make any changes to it. Try not to reveal any personal thoughts and if you're going to mention God try not to do it more than twice. Abby can have a news crew outside in thirty minutes but you need to eat something first, ok?"

"Ok." Mellie replies while looking over the speech. It's well written and quite possibly Olivia's best work yet. "Will you stand by me when I go out there?"

"Of course. I'll always stand by you, Mellie." Olivia stands up and takes her hand. "Come on. Let's get you some food."

_Mellie is standing in front of a mirror in a chapel. She's wearing a wedding dress that's a little old-fashioned but it had been her mothers and she had insisted that Mellie wear it._

"_You look beautiful."_

_Mellie turns around to see Fitz standing in the doorway. "You know it's bad luck to see the bride before the wedding."_

"_Well I'm not planning on making a run for it. Are you?"_

"_No."_

"_Then I'll say we're pretty good. Till death do us part or whatever. _

It's the night of the election and everyone who's ever been apart of Mellie's campaign is crammed into a conference room. So far Mellie has own two of five of the swing states and so has Sally. Virginia is still up for grabs.

The room is full of anxiety. Liv's phone rings for the hundredth time that night and for once she actually takes the call. She excuses herself and then Mellie turns to face Olivia's team.

"I know I haven't been the nicest to you guys but you three voted for me right?"

"Yes." Says Harrison while spinning his phone around in his hand.

"I don't vote." Replies Huck without taking his eyes off his laptop.

"I hate Republicans so you know I voted for you." Answers Abby before showing Harrison something on her phone.

"Well thank you."

Abby smiles at this because this is the first time she's ever heard Mellie thank them. "You're nervous. Take a deep breath. Maybe grab a drink."

Mellie takes Abby's suggestion and grabs a class of scotch. She downs it in one and then leaves the room to find Olivia alone in the hallway kicking the wall.

"What's wrong?"

Olivia looks up surprised. "Nothing. Just stressed about Virginia."

"I've been thinking a lot about the possible outcome of the election today. I've been thinking about Fitz too. I've been wondering if he'll ever wake up. If I win this election I want him to see me in that White House. He's always believed in me." Mellie takes a few steps closer to Olivia as she reaches into her blazer's pocket. "And so have you." She pulls out a box and Olivia immediately recognizes it.

"You kept it."

Mellie opens the box and then replies. "I did. I thought about throwing it away a couple of times. I know I could have given it away but when I first saw this ring I knew it was meant for you and no one else to wear. So I'm glad I kept it. If I lose this election then I want us to get married. Soon. And if I win I'd still like us to get married. We'd just have to wait four to eight years. We'll get married on an island somewhere because I know how much you like the water. That's if you want to marry me. Do you?"

"Yes."

Mellie takes the ring out of the box and puts it on Liv's wedding finger. "I know it's small. I can get you a bigger one."

"No. I love it. It's beautiful." Olivia kisses Mellie and it's passionate. As if it may very well be their last kiss. "I love you."

Someone in the hallway clears their throat and it causes the two to spring apart. Mellie turns around to see Abby standing there. "They're about to announce Virginia."

When they enter the room, it's absolutely quiet. Everyone's eyes are on the TV screen. The results are aired a few seconds later.

The TV screen reads: Mellie Grant wins the election.


	10. Madam President

THREE MONTHS LATER

"So how was work? I feel like I hardly saw you at all today." Mellie says while pouring Olivia another glass of wine.

They're sitting at the dinning room table of their apartment. They've just finished eating dinner. Olivia ordered takeout because cooking has never been her specialty.

"We're not going to talk about work, Mellie. I don't want to be one of those couples that work together and then come home and have nothing to talk about except work. When we step into this apartment, you're not the president of the United States and I'm not your Director of Communications."

"Ok, fine. What should we talk about then?" Mellie asks before taking drink of her beer.

"Uh, how do you feel about Jon Snow dying in the Game of Thrones finale?"

Mellie nearly chokes on the drink and she looks at Liv with wide eyes. "I hadn't watched it yet!"

"Shit. I'm sorry, but in my defense the episode aired last year. It's a mystery to me how you even manage to avoid spoilers. How have you not seen the finale yet? I bought you the box set two months ago."

"I've been every busy. And so have you. When did you even have time to watch it?"

"I have a lot of free time every night when you're not here."

Since Mellie had become president, she only had time to come home to the apartment two nights out of the week for about two hours.

"I'm sorry, Liv. I'd be here every night if I could. You know that."

"I do." Olivia sighs while running her finger through her hair. "I'm sorry. Work was difficult today. There's been tons of press on the recent shooting of another unarmed black teenager."

"I know. Abby is making a statement on it tomorrow. I'm scheduled to meet with the victim's parents in a few days. You should come with me. They're not going to want to hear a word that comes out of my mouth. They're going to say that I have no idea how they feel and they'll be right. I have no idea what it's like to lose a child. I also have no idea what it's like to be Black in America."

"It's exhausting." Olivia responds quickly. "My dad used to say to me 'you have to be twice as good as them to get half of what they have' and he was right. Picture America as a racetrack. There's a black runner and there's a white a runner. They're both in equal health. Same height, same age, same build. The only difference is that they have different skin complexions. So, the gunman is about to start the race but before he does that he uses the gun to shoot the black runner in the leg. The race starts and the black opponent gives his everything. His blood, sweat, and tears are all over the track. When he finally makes it to the finish line, he all but collapses over it. The white opponent has been there for about ten minutes and everyone in the crowd is wondering why the black runner didn't finish at the same time. They think it's because the black runner didn't try hard enough. They think that he deserved to lose. That's what it's like being black in America. It's exhausting. It's like that for any person of color really. Not just black. People of color have different obstacles to overcome." Olivia finishes the glass of wine that Mellie recently poured for her before speaking again. "I'll go with you to speak to the family." She slides Mellie her glass so that she can refill it.

There's a knock on the front door before Huck sticks his head in. "It's almost time to head back to the White House, Madam President."

"I'll be out soon!" Mellie cries back before he shuts the door. "I still can't believe you forced Huck to be a Secret Service Agent so that he could keep an eye on me."

"I didn't have to force him. He hates wearing the suits but the man would do anything for me. He hardly put up a fight. Besides, I need to know that you're ok when I'm not around. I trust Huck. He knows that you're very important to me, which makes you his number one priority."

"I think you worry about me too much."

"And this is coming from the woman who makes Abby sleep here on the couch every night you're not here."

"She doesn't complain."

"Oh, she complains. Just not to your face. She complains when she has to touch any surface that we've had sex on."

Mellie actually snorts at Liv's confession. "Well that's unfortunate because we've had sex in a lot of places." Mellie's phone vibrates and she lets out a sigh. "That's Huck. I have to go or the White House will crumble in my absence." Olivia walks Mellie to the door and hands Mellie her coat. "This is what I wanted right? To be the leader of the free world."

"It is. It's what the people wanted. It's what I wanted. We all voted for you, Mellie. It may be hard now but it'll get easier and even if it becomes more difficult I'll still be here."

Mellie kisses Olivia before Huck enters the room again and insists that Mellie to come with him. When Mellie gets into the car, she's surprised to see Fitz sitting inside. He's wearing a black suit and his hair has finally grown back from when the hospital shaved it for his surgery.

"What are you doing here?"

"Liv texted me. She wanted me to make sure you got back to the White House safely so Harrison picked me up. I've been waiting out here for almost 30 minutes."

"Olivia thinks that someone is going to try to assassinate me during my presidency."

"Someone probably will. America hates women."

Mellie can't help but let out a small chuckle at Fitz's statement.

During the car ride back to the White House, Mellie pulls out a piece of paper that she's been holding on to for the last fourteen years. It's the note that Olivia left on her nightstand along with the wedding ring all those years ago. The paper is wrinkled. She had balled it up and thrown it away the morning she had first read it. She dug it out of the trashcan three days later. She unfolds the paper and reads the seven letters over again for what feels like the millionth time.

The thin piece of paper reads: You'll make an excellent president some day.

And Liv was right.

Mellie only serves one full term in the White House. She hates being away from Liv too much to spend another four years in that place. She manages to get a new gun control law passed during her presidency. Her and Liv get married in Hawaii with Fitz as her maid of honor (he's ok with that title) and with Abby as Olivia's. Mellie's mother attends the wedding and cries the entire time. Neither of Olivia's parents show up. Huck was more than happy to walk her down the aisle. Olivia and Mellie adopt a beautiful baby girl from Ethiopia. Olivia attempts to learn how to cook and Mellie determines that being married to Liv is a lot less stressful than being president.

A/N: THANKS FOR ALL THE COMMENTS AND REVIEWS! FEEL FREE TO INBOX ME ANY MELLIVIA PROMPTS YOU THINK I'D BE INTERESTED IN.


End file.
